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According to the federal VA, approximately 195,000 U. S. service members have been identified as participants in the post-World War II occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan following the atomic bombing of Japan. In addition, approximately 210,000 mostly military members are confirmed as participants in U.S. atmospheric nuclear weapons tests between 1945 and 1962 in the United States and the Pacific and Atlantic oceans prior to the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty. Largely as a result of epidemiological studies of Japanese atomic bomb survivors, exposure to radiation has been associated with a number of disorders including leukemia, various cancers and cataracts. VA provides special priority enrollment for health-care services to "Atomic Veterans" for radiation-related conditions. In addition, these "Atomic Veterans" are eligible to participate in the VA ionizing radiation registry examination program.

Of the estimated 400,000 "Atomic Veterans," 22,000 have participated in the Ionizing Radiation Registry.

INFORMATION FOR AND ABOUT ATOMIC & RADIATION-EXPOSED VETERANS

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES